A SNAPSHOT OF AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORY RETRIEVAL CHARACTERISTICS

This study attempts to replicate and extend the results of Burt (1992a ), using more ecologically valid memory cues. Twenty-seven undergradua te students used 138 rolls of him over the 1992-3 summer vacation. The him produced approximately 4900 autobiographical photographs, which w ere categorized as to the nature of the cues (event information)they c ontained (e.g. activity, location, participant). A sample of the subje ct's autobiographical photographs, and a set of other individuals auto biographical photographs (autobiographical foils), were presented to e ach subject via a tachistoscope. The subjects were asked to indicate w hen they had retrieved the 'circumstances and associated context' surr ounding the scene depicted in each photograph or had decided the latte r was not possible. Differences in memory retrieval times were found b etween the foils and autobiographical photographs and across the cue c ategories. The results suggest that autobiographical event memory stru ctures are formed around the most unique event attribute. Rehearsal of an event and occurrence of an experience within an extended event (e. g. a holiday) were also found to predict memory retrieval time.